


No Matter How Dark It May Be, There Is Redemption

by fangs_for_the_memories



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hollstein - Freeform, Some Fluff, some dark stuff, what happens when I try to fit head canons into canon material
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-06 08:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 18,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3127319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangs_for_the_memories/pseuds/fangs_for_the_memories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the Christmas special, Laura's father takes the group back to the house.  Lafontaine, Perry, Danny, Kirsh, J.P., and a new ally help Carmilla and Laura as plans unfold about how to deal with lophiiformes.  Laura finds out secrets her father has been hiding from her.  Carmilla and Laura continue to explore their new relationship in the face of danger and fluff.<br/>[Now on Wattpad under the same name as per request!]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to include at least one fluffy part in each chapter to offset some of the darker parts (a valiant effort that proved successful in chapters 2-10 but more difficult in other chapters). Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a battle...

It wasn’t worth it.  None of it was worth it.  They’d wanted to save the campus and were willing to do whatever it took – or so they thought.  They knew it’d be difficult, they knew it’d require sacrifices, especially after the last encounter with The Dean and lophiiformes.  But they figured this time that with a stronger united front, more help than last time, and an actual plan other than _send Laura and Perry and a pod-peopled Lafontaine in without proper weapons or footwear_.  But alliances and plans and weapons and even footwear were still not enough to prepare them. 

Perry and Lafontaine sat on a rock as Perry occasionally let out sobs, Laf gently rubbing her back while gazing off, their mind still not processing the outcome of the battle.  They’d won, but at what cost?

“I can’t believe there isn’t even a body,” Kirsh said from a few feet away.  Danny put her face in her hands and her shoulders shook.  “Oh man!  I’m sorry, psycho s—Danny.  I wasn’t thinking!”  He put his hand on her shoulder and the shaking slowed.  “It’s just, we should be happy we won, y’know?  But instead we’re sitting here coz she died, and then she died _again_ , and now there isn’t something we could bury for closure and stuff.”

“Kirsh, honey, I know you’re trying to help, but you’re not,” Perry murmured.

Kirsh looked down at the ground, muttering “Sorry.”

“Should we go in there?  Check in on her?”  Danny had put her hands in her lap but didn’t shake Kirsh’s hand from her shoulder.

“Not while we’re like this,” Laf replied, their voice devoid of emotion.  “Not when two of us are crying and two of us can’t muster up the ability to be upset enough to properly console anyone.  She’s gonna need us to be there for her; she’s been through too much.  And if we go in there all, ‘Hey! We know you just lost the love of your life, but can we cry and snot all over you’–“

“Let’s go.”  A voice came from behind them, startling the four of them.  They turned to face their friend, avoiding her gaze.  “She’s dead, there’s nothing to ‘bury for closure and stuff,’ so let’s go.”  The four friends stood up and regarded the other woman carefully.  “And if any of you need to cry and snot all over me,” she added, “please keep it to a minimum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in over eight years, but the Carmilla fandom is just too good to ignore! Hope my love for the characters is enough. Feel free to let me know what you think!


	2. Call Me, Beep Me, If You Wanna Reach Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's father manages to rescue the group from the diner. The reunion is heartwarming, but something's weird between Carmilla and Laura's father.

FIVE DAYS EARLIER

 

  “If I ever see another gingerbread cookie again, it’ll be too soon,” Laura whined.

“This might actually be the first time I’ve ever heard you say something against sweets, hon,” Carmilla said, wrapping her arm around Laura.  “Maybe I should hunt down a witch that turns children into chocolate chip cookies or drowns them in hot chocolate.”  She gave a small chuckle, which became visible in the cold winter air outside the diner.

Laura gave an overdramatic gasp.  “Don’t you dare!”

“Besides,” Lafontaine said, coming out of the diner, “she’d probably wind up almost being turned into said chocolate chip cookie or drowned in said hot chocolate, and then you’d have to save her and kill another witch.  And you’re obviously only allowed to murder people for Laura if it’s for Christmas.”

Perry was the last to exit the diner.  “Why are we all waiting _out_ side in the cold?  We could be _in_ side where it’s warm and still see the car when it pulls up,” she huffed.

After the debacle with the Gingerdead Lady – a label Laura gave her that stuck – the group had checked out the rest of the diner, only to find a completely functional phone booth in the back.  Laura called her father, who quickly forsook asking detailed questions and focused on the essential information: “where are you?”  After some vague descriptions and a couple of Google searches, her father found what he believed to be the diner’s location and promised to drive there to pick them all up in the morning.  By then, everyone was too wired to sleep through the night.  The mob had since completely dissipated, their bitten mayor forgotten.

 

“We’re about to be cramped into a car with Laura’s father for several hours, Perry,” Laf answered. “I don’t know about you, but I want to enjoy this last bit of fresh air.”

“I thought you would’ve had more than enough fresh air by now,” Carmilla playfully snapped. 

Lafontaine was about to make a comment about how it had taken some time for the air to be “fresh” considering the stench that surrounded Silas University for miles, given the zombie situation that followed the tremors on campus, but Laura’s father’s van pulled into view.  Carmilla could sense Laura’s heartbeat quicken at the sight of the car and removed her arm.  When the car came to a stop in front of the group, her father rolled down the window and stuck his head out.  “Wouldn’t it have been better to wait _in_ side the––”

“I TOLD YOU SO,” Perry boomed.

Laf clicked their tongue.  “Take a pill, Perry, jeez.”  Laura’s father gave a small laugh and unlocked the car.

Laura beamed as her dad stepped out of the car and ran to him for a hug.  “Oh, princess, you don’t know how relieved I am to see you,” he whispered into her hair.  “After I saw the rioting and that the Dean went missing on the news, I had no idea what to do when I couldn’t reach your phone.”  _So that’s the story the world’s getting,_ Laura thought as she squeezed her father.

“I know, dad, and I couldn’t have made it through without my friends Perry and Lafontaine.  And I definitely couldn’t have made it without my girlfriend, Carmilla.”  Laura let go of her father so he could get a better look at her friends.  His eyes scanned over Perry and Lafontaine’s faces and then settled on the girl his daughter had indicated as her girlfriend.

“Hello, my name is Richard, nice to meet—” Laura’s father cut himself off as something clicked in his brain when he looked long enough at Carmilla.  A look of confusion came over Laura’s face as she tried to figure out why her father had interrupted himself, and grew more confused as she saw a similar look flash over Carmilla’s face.  Carmilla’s mouth dropped open slightly, but she closed it quickly.

“N-Nice to meet you, Richard,” Carmilla said, now looking at the ground.

Laura’s father, however, continued to stare at Carmilla.  “Yes, nice to meet you,” he said stiffly, then visibly forced himself to relax as he added, “Thank you for looking after my daughter.”  Carmilla muttered a response.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hollis – erm, Richard,” Perry chimed in.

“Yes, please call me Richard,” Laura’s father replied, smiling at Laura’s friends, before opening the driver’s seat door.  “Now let’s get started on this trip outta here, hmm?”  He reached into his pocket.  “But first, before I forget, here,” he said, holding something out for Laura.

 

Laura looked down and her eyes widened.  “Oh my gosh!  Oh my _gosh_ , ohmygod ohmygod _ohmygod_!”  She squealed and did a little jig, which made Carmilla and her father laugh.  “An iPhone?”

Her father smiled warmly at her.  “After we lost contact for so long I decided maybe it’d be worth the dangerous selfies to get you a phone that doesn’t have physical buttons if it means a better chance at communication,” he explained.

So, naturally, the first thing Laura did was take a selfie in which she was beaming with a scowling Carmilla, who was already grumbling before Laura could even open the camera app.

“Okay, now it’s time to get started on our trip,” Richard said, getting into the car.

 

Laura went to enter the van next, but Carmilla stepped in front of her.

Laura let out a slight huff.  “Carm, what are you—”

Carmilla swiftly opened the door and then stepped aside, indicating for Laura to enter first.

“Did you— are you opening the door for me?” Laura’s annoyed pout turned into a grin.

Carmilla rolled her eyes.  “For the love of Satan, Hollis, get in the damn van before I slam the door on your fingers.”  She did not miss the glare Richard gave her and just kept her eyes trained on Laura.

Laura continued grinning as she did as she was told.  The van was such that there was a driver’s seat in the front, and then three seats along each side of the van.  Lafontaine and Perry settled on one side of the van, while Carmilla and Laura sat opposite them.

“Are we good to go?  Seatbelts on?” Richard called from the front.

“Yup, dad!  We’re all good!”  Laura beamed at Carmilla.

A few minutes of silence passed before Laura leaned her head on Carmilla’s shoulder.  Perry and Laf had already nodded off, snoring softly.  Laura wove her fingers into her girlfriend’s.

“Y’know, cupcake, maybe after things settle down, we can go somewhere on vacation,” Carmilla said quietly to avoid waking up their friends, but unsure if Richard was listening.

Laura’s grip tightened.  “That sounds amazing!”  She let out a slight squeal.  “We could go to London and do the Doctor Who tour!  Or, like, go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!”  Carmilla smiled at Laura, who was now bouncing on her seat like a small toddler.

“Ooooookay, creampuff, calm down, we don’t need you spontaneously combusting in the middle of the van.”  Laura grinned up at her girlfriend, wondering when it would be that “things settle down.”  She slowly drifted off to sleep, and her wondering turned into dreams of drinking butterbeer with her girlfriend.


	3. Picture Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla, Lafontaine, and Perry are amused by some of Laura's childhood pictures, and find out some things about her past. Laura's father doesn't seem to have any issues with Carmilla and Laura dating.

The sun was setting when the van pulled up to the house’s driveway. The house was a towering three floored home, the upper floors consisting of two separate bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a guest room with its own bathroom. The first floor held the living room, kitchen, dining room, and pantry. There was also a basement.  
“Whoa,” Laf said, the group having woken up an hour or so before and had since made polite small talk and including Richard whenever they could. Laura did not miss the tension between Carmilla and her father, but was not oblivious enough to bring it up now. She was currently chalking it up to “I’m her father”/”I’m her girlfriend” issues but knew that wasn’t it.

They entered the house, with Perry and Lafontaine unabashedly giggling over the pictures of Laura displayed around the house. Carmilla followed their path more quietly, but with a much larger grin plastered across her face. Richard was checking to make sure the guest bedroom/bathroom and Laura’s bedroom were up to spec.  
“Wow, buttercup, can you say, ‘overestimate?’” Carmilla snickered at a picture of Laura as a toddler in an American football helmet clearly too large for her. “Did you not know how small your head was?”  
Laura gave a giggle. “I was trying to help clean out the basement and I found my dad’s old football helmet and I ran around screaming HUP HUP and screaming out colors and numbers.” Carmilla laughed at the image that formed in her mind. The sound was so nice to hear and Laura loved the way Carmilla closed her eyes and threw her head back to make it, before opening them again and looking at her, her eyes softening and filled with warmth.

“Man, oh man, Laur, this one is hilarious!” Laura looked to see what Laf was referring to, and it was a picture of Laura holding a massive axe twice her size while near a pile of chopped wood. Little Laura totally thought she was strong enough to have been holding it up by herself, and was blissfully unaware that her father was behind her supporting a majority of the weight of the axe. Laura was laughing, too.  
“Who took this picture? Your mother?” Perry was still chuckling at that look of sheer pride on Laura’s face, a look that persists to this day.  
“Oh, uhm… no,” Laura replied. “She died giving birth to me.”  
An awkward silence followed for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Laura,” Perry finally said.  
Laura clicked her tongue. “It’s fine, you didn’t know.” She added a chuckle to make sure Perry knew Laura was not upset by her friend’s question at all. “And to answer your other question, I think the picture was taken by one of my dad’s coworkers.”  
“Speaking of your dad,” Laf said, “what does he do? Coz this house is,” they whistled to demonstrate how impressed they were.  
“Private security,” Laura answered. “Hence all the protection and defense things.”

“Talking about me?” Richard was descending the stairs.  
“Good things, good things,” Laura said jokingly.  
“I should hope so.” He wrapped his arm around his daughter. “So I assume Lafontaine and Perry will be in the guest bedroom, and you and Carmilla will stay in yours?” Laura nodded. “I was going to instigate the open-door policy like we did when you were in high school—” he spoke over the beginning of Laura’s protests “ _but_ since you’re in college now, and you guys are already sharing a room at Silas, I’ll leave it to your own discretion.”  
Laura turned to give her father a full hug and as he hugged her back, she felt the confusion as to what the problem between Carmilla and her father was, returning. _Clearly he feels okay with us dating, so…?_  
“I’m going to get started on dinner, is that okay?” her father’s voice pulled Laura from her thoughts. A chorus of enthusiastic replies answered his question. “I’ll be making lasagna and mashed potatoes.”

After her father went to the kitchen, joined by Perry who insisted on helping, and by Lafontaine who insisted on bothering Perry while she was trying to help, Laura turned to Carmilla.  
“Carm, is there something you need to tell me?” Laura kept her voice low.  
“Yes,” Carmilla said, after a couple seconds of pondering. “I, too, cannot believe that’s not butter.”  
Laura playfully smacked her. “About my dad!” she hissed.  
Carmilla narrowed her eyes. “Ah, yes,” she said, lowering her voice, “he _does_ believe that’s butter.”  
Laura pouted at Carmilla. “Okay, Miss Butter-face, forget I asked.” She started to walk away before Carmilla grabbed her wrist and turned Laura around to face her.  
She leaned in close and for a second Laura thought Carmilla was going to kiss her, but then Carmilla whispered, “I’ll tell you later, okay?” before planting a light kiss on Laura’s cheek. _Okay, then,_ Laura thought, and agreed to drop the issue for now.  
Carmilla walked towards the kitchen and Laura ran after her, asking, “Are you going to be a Perry or a Lafontaine?”  
Carmilla turned around. “What?”  
“Are you going to help my dad or are you going to annoy Perry?”  
Laura giggled as Carmilla raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do _you_ think?”


	4. A Dean, A Monster Hunter, and A Pillow Fairy... Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura finds out what's been going on with Danny and Kirsh at Silas. Carmilla explains to Laura why there's tension between her and Laura's father. And then there's some fluff.

The house’s first floor was dark now, as its inhabitants had retired for the evening.  Laura could hear the sounds of feet padding around in the room above them, probably from Perry pacing and panicking to Lafontaine over something silly like “Are we supposed to cook breakfast for Richard tomorrow morning?” or “What if your snoring keeps Richard awake?”

Carmilla walked into Laura’s bedroom, freshly showered with a towel in hand, wearing one of her old t-shirts. _Damn, she looks better in it than I do,_ Laura thought, smiling at her. Carmilla closed the door behind her, taking advantage of Richard’s lack of an open-door policy.

“So I finally spoke to Danny,” Laura began slowly, pointing to her new and functioning iPhone, drawing out the “so,” as her girlfriend sat down on the foot of the bed beside her.  “Her and Kirsh are fine and the zombie situation has been more or less confined to just the campus by the Zetas and Summer Society.”

“That’s great,” Carmilla said, drying off her hair.

Laura looked down for the next part. “But she has some bad news. She was hoping to tell us earlier, but,” Laura waved her hands around, “lack of cell phone service kinda put the kibosh on that.”

Laura hesitated so Carmilla stopped drying her hair and gave the girl her full attention.  “What is it?”

Laura took a deep breath.  “Well, it turns out that the thing controlling the zombie horde is lophiiformes.  Or, rather, a form of it.” She bit her lower lip and averted her gaze.

Carmilla gently placed a finger under Laura’s chin and Laura’s eyes returned to look at hers.

“It’s The Dean,” she said softly. “Lophiiformes is sharing your mother’s body.”

“Oh.”  Carmilla had to admit that she knew this would be a possibility, but hearing it was more jarring than she expected.  “They’re sure?”

“Yeah.  During one of their horde-taming missions, Danny said she saw The Dean commanding them.”

 

Carmilla let out a deep sigh, but it did nothing to assuage the feeling of the world crashing down around her. The idea of facing her mother _again_ was so overwhelming. It was like she was being buried alive all over again, like she was dying or trapped in that coffin again—

Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla and leaned her head on her shoulder.  “We’ll figure this out, Carm,” Laura said.  Carmilla closed her eyes.  She didn’t know how, but the drowning feeling instantly started to lessen.

 _I know how,_ Carmilla thought, _it’s Laura._ Somehow this easily excitable ball of energy that was her tiny girlfriend was much more effective at keeping Carmilla grounded than anyone or anything else ever had.  With anyone else, those words could have rung insincere and empty, but Laura was always so strong-willed with good intentions that every word that left her lips were given that much more power.

“Thanks, cupcake,” Carmilla said, leaning her head on Laura’s.  They sat in silence for a bit before Laura shifted to stand and face Carmilla.

 

“So what’s going on with you and my dad?”

Carmilla was taken slightly aback, having forgotten about that, given the current predicament with her mother. “Ah, yes,” she drawled, “that.” Carmilla furrowed her brows, thinking of the best way to explain it to Laura.

Meanwhile, Laura decided to fill the silence. “I mean, at first I thought it was you two being all piss contest-y and being like, ‘She’s _my_ Laura,’ ‘no, she’s _my_ Laura,’ but he was okay with us sharing a room and closing the door, so that wasn’t it, and then I thought it was like maybe he had seen my videos but I feel like by the end of those he would’ve been a-okay with us being together and _then_ I thought—”

“Laura,” Carmilla gently cut her off. “It is none of those things. Or, at least, those aren’t the main issue.”

“Then what _is_ the main issue?”

Carmilla took a deep breath.  “I’ve met him before,” she explained slowly. “I met him about thirty years ago.”

“Oh.”  Laura wrinkled her nose a bit.  “Uhm, but then what’s the problem?  Don’t tell me he saw you eat someone or something?”

Carmilla stared at a spot on the floor. “No, that’s not it,” she murmured. She continued to stare at the spot on the floor.  “Laura, he’s a hunter.” She slowly looked back up.

Laura gave her a blank look, which, as time passed, grew more confused.

“He’s a monster hunter,” Carmilla elaborated. Laura’s eyes grew wide. “He hunts monsters. And, when I met him, he was with a young woman, who, ah, I assume was your mother.”

Carmilla could no longer read Laura’s face.

“Cupcake?”

Laura blinked hard.  “Hmm.”  Now it was her turn to furrow her eyebrows.  “So my dad recognized you?  And didn’t try to stake you?”

Carmilla chuckled.  “Monster hunters tend to only go after ones that are actively causing problems and hurting people or killing them.  When he found me, I was doing none of those things and he just wanted information on a vampire that was.”  She stroked Laura’s arm.  “I guess you never had any idea, huh?”

“None.”  Carmilla could see the wheel in Laura’s mind’s slowly turning and reviewing her entire life.  The way Laura puffed out her cheeks when she was thinking and pouted slightly made her look adorable.

“Okay, well, before your brain goes up in flames, how about we try to go to sleep and figure things out tomorrow? I seem to remember some genius suggesting that earlier.”  Laura gave a small laugh and the two lay down in bed next to each other on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

 

A few minutes went by before Laura rolled to face Carmilla.  “Carm?” she whispered.

“Hmm?” she turned to face her girlfriend. Moonlight shone through the window and illuminated their faces.

“You’re lying on my yellow pillow.” Laura gave a large scowl, joking. “And your hair is still wet.”

Carmilla fluffed her hair so it covered her pillow. “Dunno what you’re talking about, cutie.”  She used her hand to cover Laura’s face so Laura couldn’t see.  “No yellow pillow here.”

“Ah, then where is my yellow pillow?” Laura asked, the words muffled into her vampire’s hand.

Carmilla adopted a very serious tone. “Maybe the pillow fairy took it.”

Laura lifted the intrusive hand off of her face. “Why would the pillow fairy wrong me like this?” she asked, feigning sincerity.

“Maybe,” Carmilla said, looking as if she was thinking very hard for a reasonable answer, “it’s because someone’s monster-hunting father killed the previous pillow fairy.”

Laura grumped and rolled over. “Stupid vampire,” she huffed, followed by a small snicker.

“Yeah, I know,” Carmilla laughed at her tiny human, maneuvering the yellow pillow out from under her head and plopping it on top of Laura’s head, “but I’m your stupid vampire.”

There was a moment of silence before Laura let out a sob. “ _Carm_!” Laura whined, “You got the pillow all wet!”

Carmilla laughed as Laura made no immediate effort to remove the wet pillow from her head.

 


	5. A Monster Hunter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura gets some answers from her father, while Carmilla accompanies her. Featuring: Laura being her usual articulate self.

After updating Lafontaine and Perry at breakfast about the situation with The Dean, as well as the new information about Richard, Laura resolved to head to confront her father to ask about said information. Carmilla volunteered to go to the office with her, somewhat for support, but also because the idea of Laura wandering into a monster-hunter’s office wasn’t exactly appealing, even if it was her father’s.

“Oh, and Danny and Kirsh are on their way to the house,” Laura added as they were getting ready to leave. “Our couches in the living room are pretty comfortable if you push them together and we also have a couple down in the basement.”  She bounced up and down with excitement.  “I already texted them the directions.  I can’t wait to see them!”

“Yes, thank goodness they’re okay,” Perry sighed in relief.

Laf nodded.  “And while you guys are dealing with your Van Helsing father, Per and I can start looking up anything else we can find on lophiiformes. And give JP 2.0 some air since he’s been cooped up for the past month.”

“Sounds good,” Carmilla replied.

 

The office was about a half hour’s drive away, and Carmilla drove while Laura fidgeted the whole time.  Carmilla thought about saying something but she knew Laura’s mind was going a mile a minute and breaking into that would likely just lead to those thoughts spewing out incoherently.  As adorable as that seemed, it wouldn’t actually help Laura, so Carmilla took to just watching her tiny girlfriend wring her hands and pout for the entire ride.

When they pulled up to the building, Laura didn’t move from her seat.

“Is this the building?” Carmilla asked, already knowing the answer, but deciding this was the right amount of prompting necessary.

Laura nodded and got out of the car, took a deep breath, and looked like she was holding it until they entered the building. It was a weekend so the building was unsurprisingly empty as they got into an elevator.  Laura pressed the button to take them to the fourth floor and when they arrived, Laura walked down the hall and entered the fifth room on the left.  The trip had been as silent as their drive, with Carmilla following a step or two behind Laura. Laura knocked but didn’t wait before opening the door.

Richard looked up from his desk. “Oh, hi, princess,” he said, confusion evident in his voice.  “What are you doing here?”  Laura didn’t miss the way his eyes flashed for a second to Carmilla’s.

 

On the drive over, Laura had considered several methods for the confrontation, including storming in angrily and demanding an explanation, or asking nicely if _gee Dad did you lie to me my entire life?_ , or stupidly gawk at him and ask if Carmilla looked as pretty thirty years ago, or question him if the reason he bolted her bed to the floor was _actually because there might be monsters under there_ , but all these options were thrown out the window when the moment actually came.

“A MONSTER HUNTER?” Laura shrieked.

Carmilla scoffed despite herself. “Wow, sweetheart, it’s nice to see that all that contemplation since we left the house led to A-plus articulation.”

“You told her.”  Richard sighed, having known from the moment she saw Carmilla that this would happen.  He had seen the videos and knew the vampire was more likely to tell his daughter everything, especially something as large as this.

“Yes, sir,” Carmilla admitted. “But to be fair, she knew something was wrong already.”

 

“A monster hunter?!” Laura’s voice was going up so many octaves that Carmilla was genuinely concerned her head might explode.

“You’re doing great with this confrontation, cupcake,” Carmilla smirked.  She placed a hand on her shoulder.  “But at the risk of you standing here for hours screaming, ‘a monster hunter,’” Carmilla did her best wide-eyed Laura-voice impression, “how about you take a breath and change up your diction choice?”

Laura did as she was asked and took a deep breath. “Why did you never tell me?”

 

“Oh, honey,” Richard sighed.  “I wanted to.  But I made a promise to myself when your mother died that this life was just too dangerous.  If I had my way, I would’ve left this life, too, but it was too late for me. It was all I had known since I was eighteen years old and, as silly as it sounds, the hours were flexible enough for me to give you more time, and the pay was good.”

“Did mom know?”

Richard stood up from his desk and walked to the window. Carmilla wasn’t sure if Laura could tell that her father was crying, but if she did, it didn’t stop her line of questioning.  “Did mom know?” Laura repeated, even though Carmilla had given her a guess last night as to what the answer might be.

“She was also a monster hunter,” he answered. “Carmilla, you met her.” He shook his head sadly. “She wasn’t supposed to be involved in monster hunting once she was pregnant with you,” he turned around and looked at Laura, “but the case I was working on got complicated, and it put her in danger.  It was a witch that went rogue from her coven and she came after you and your mother,” he continued, swallowing hard.  “I got the coven to do a protection spell and it worked, but not on both of you.”

Laura sat down on the chair across his at the desk. Carmilla leaned against the back of the chair but didn’t touch Laura.

“Were… Were you ever going to tell me?” Laura asked, choking back a sob.

Richard sighed.  “No,” he answered truthfully.  “But then I heard the story about Silas and it sounded ridiculous, especially when I didn’t hear from you for weeks, so we’ve been looking into it.”

 

“‘We?’  You’re not working alone?” Carmilla asked.

Richard scoffed.  “In this empty building?” he waved his arms to indicate the space around him. At least Carmilla could see where her girlfriend had picked up some of her habits from. “Our front is private security but everyone in this building is in the supernatural hunting business.”

“Ohh,” Laura said quietly in her chair. Carmilla assumed things were slowly clicking into place for her.  Richard abandoned his spot at the window and sat down at his desk to look directly into his daughter’s eyes.

“We had some agents in the area gathering intel about the situation and I was about to head out since, you know, I had a personal stake in it, but I’ve been on another case.”

“So you don’t know anything,” Laura said slowly.

Her father shook his head.  “Why?  Do _you_?”

 

The conversation was interrupted when the window was shattered from the outside, as a large wolf-man beast burst into the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying the ride so far! Thanks for the feedback I've gotten, guys :D


	6. Blessings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's father's current case catches up with him, resulting in Laura and Carmilla lending a hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit short, but the next one is on its way! Hope you enjoy the action.

“ _Hollis_!” the beast growled, using one large paw to shove Richard and the chair he was sitting on into the wall opposite the window.  “ _I heard you’ve been hunting down my pack in my absence!_ ” 

The wolf-man hybrid towered at nine feet, standing on its hind legs, a fiery anger in its eyes.

The beast flipped the desk over with its other paw, knocking Laura’s chair over backwards.  She let out a shriek as she fell.  “ _You wanted me? Come get me!_ ”

Carmilla ran to help Laura up but the wolf monster noticed her supernatural speed and identified her as a threat. It grabbed her by the throat and threw her through the office doorway.

“Carm!” Laura scrambled to her feet and picked up the chair and smashed it over the wolf’s head.  The wolf turned around to address the puny target.

Richard had since gone into one of the drawers and whipped out a pistol.  He fired off one shot into the monster’s back but it didn’t seem to faze it as it used its paws to push Laura to the ground by her shoulders.  In fact, the shot seemed to help give it momentum.

Laura gave as much of an uppercut as she could in her current position against the beast’s ribcage, which caused it to look down at where it had been hit – apparently the small girl hit harder than it thought she could.  Carmilla took the opportunity to leap from the doorway and tackle the wolf off Laura. She rolled out of the tackle to her feet, while Richard quickly took another shot, this one right between the wolf’s eyes.  It crumpled to the ground, dying immediately.

 

Carmilla rushed to Laura, who was still on the ground. “Cupcake, are you okay?” she asked, her eyes scanning for injuries.

Laura went to sit up and winced. “My head kinda hurts from behind knocked over twice,” she said, looking down at her hand, “and I think I hurt my hand a bit trying to punch that, uhm—”  Her eyes wandered to the beast lying dead a foot away from her. “What was that?”

“Lycanthrope,” her father answered, kneeling next to her.  “Like a werewolf. They’ve got the mind and thinking capabilities of a man, but the body and ferocity of a wolf.” He cupped the back of her head with his hand, put a small amount of pressure, and then removed it to examine his hand. “No blood.  Are you dizzy?”  Laura shook her head.  “Good,” he sighed in relief.

“I don’t think your hand is broken, either,” Carmilla noted.  “But it’s already starting to look like it’ll bruise.”

Laura frowned at her hand, as if personally offended by the red color it was starting to turn.  She looked from her girlfriend’s face to her father’s face. “Are _you_ guys okay?”  They both nodded.

Carmilla put her hand gently on Laura’s bruising hand. “I assume this is the case you’ve been working on?” Carmilla addressed Richard.

He nodded again.  “He murdered a small village and his pack covered it up. In order to make him turn up, I rounded up a few of the pack’s more prominent members and spread around a rumor that I killed them.”  He looked over at the corpse.  “Now that he’s been put down – so to speak – I’ll let them go.”

“Won’t they seek retribution?” Carmilla asked.

Richard shook his head.  “I spoke to the members I kidnapped.  Apparently they agreed with my decision to kill him but knew they’d lose the support of the pack if they executed him.  They agreed to order the other pack members to not pursue any revenge fantasies, though.”  He gently nudged Laura’s other arm.  “You okay, kiddo?”

 

She sighed, not answering right away. “I-I just don’t understand how you could’ve hid this all from me.  I thought we told each other everything…”

He looked down at the floor.  “I know, and it sucked, all of it.  I hated lying to you about where I was every day, and where I was going, and what I was doing, but I did it to protect you. Or at least, I thought I was.” He looked back up to Laura. “After I found out there were things going wrong at Silas and that there was a cover-up, I watched your videos and saw just how much I _couldn’t_ protect you from monsters.  But someone else _was_ doing a great job of it.” He looked over to Carmilla. “It didn’t hit me who you were until I met you because, well, you looked different thirty years ago, and it wasn’t anywhere around here so I missed the connection.” He took a deep breath. “I see how much you care about my daughter and you’ve done more to protect her while not hiding anything from her, while I have, and,” he spoke purposefully, making sure that each word was as sincere as possible, “thank you for being good to her.”

Carmilla blinked, not prepared to receive her girlfriend’s blessings after such a long confession.  “Uhm.  You’re welcome, Richard.”

She saw a small glimmer of a smile flash on his face, but it disappeared as he regarded his daughter again.  “Laura?  I’m so sorry.” Laura sat there, thinking of a response that never came.  “Laura?”

“Dad, I’m gonna need some time,” she said slowly. “Just to process things. Like, uhm, I get that you did this because you thought you’re protecting me… And… But I just need some time to think everything over, is all, okay?”  She flashed her dad a smile.  He seemed relieved and smiled back.

“Okay.”  He smiled back.  He and Carmilla helped Laura up and the trio slowly put the office back together.


	7. The Pommel of Azathoth and Rocky Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's father offers some new information, leading Lafontaine, Perry, and J.P. off to go do research. This leaves an empty house for Carmilla and Laura to do things like... eat ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Fluff. Fluff everywhere. Enjoy the fluff.)

“So, how much do you guys know about what’s happening at Silas?” her father asked as they were carefully picking up shards of glass and shattered wood off the floor.

“Well, like we said in my videos, the thing causing the tremors is this old monster called ‘la free four mice,’” Laura began.

“––Lophiiformes,” Carmilla corrected with a chuckle.

“Yeah, and it’s some ancient evil that was taking sacrifices every twenty years by consuming minds and it was a vicious cycle because it would use the energy it got from consuming minds to draw in more sacrifices.”

“We thought we killed it when I used the Blade of Hastur on it, but apparently all it did was get weaker and then jump into my mo—The Dean’s body,” Carmilla added, “and now together they’re raising some zombie army that the Zetas and Summer Society are holding at bay.”

Laura’s father stood silently for a few seconds. “Okaaaay,” he stretched out. “I can’t remember from the videos, but did you guys pair the Blade of Hastur with the Pommel of Azathoth?”

Laura and Carmilla looked at each other and found they shared a confused look.

“The what?” Carmilla asked.

“Well, the Blade of Hastur is made from the bones of star spawn, right?  The Pommel of Azathoth is the other half of the R'lyeh pair item, made from the claws of star spawn. Together they can be used to defeat the lophiiformes, but,” he bit his lip, “it will consume the user.”

Laura regarded her father carefully, choosing to skip over that last bit for now.  “Does that mean that the Blade of Hastur needs to be paired with the, uhm, Palm of a Tooth—”

“––The Pommel of Azathoth,” her father corrected her.

“Okay, yeah, that,” Laura blushed a bit, muttering, “What the hell is a star spawn, anyway?” under her breath.

“It’s like a giant octopus-like thing,” Carmilla replied, earning a glare from Laura that told her it was a rhetorical question. She turned to address Richard. “So unless we attach the two items together, they won’t work on lophiiformes?”

“Yep,” he replied.  He raised an eyebrow.  “Where did you guys get this information, anyway?”

“J.P. got it from the campus historical records in the mystical weapons section,” Laura beamed.

“Hmm,” Richard responded.  “Makes sense they would only have half the information ready, I guess.”

“Any idea where the Pommel of Azathoth is?” Carmilla asked.  Richard shook his head. He looked like he was about to say something else when his phone rang.  He answered it and held up a finger.  Laura cocked her head to gesture to Carmilla that they should leave his office.

 

“How’s your head?” Carmilla asked once they were outside, also looking down to see that Laura’s hand was definitely bruising.

“Still hearing a slight ringing and things are still a bit muffled,” she replied, and grinned, “but I think we all know I have a hard head.”

“Pfft, that’s the understatement of the year,” Carmilla scoffed, smirking.  Laura’s phone rang and the ID showed it was Laf, so she answered it.

Carmilla didn’t bother to exercise her vampire hearing since she figured Laura would tell her the other side of the conversation afterwards, so she just listened to Laura’s half, which consisted of vaguely answering how the encounter went, neglecting to mention the lycanthrope attack, then giving details about the Pommel of Azathoth and asking them to research it as best they could.  Then came a lot of short affirmations.

Richard popped his head out of the office doorway as Laura was hanging up with Lafontaine.  “Everything okay?”

“Lafontaine and Perry are going to go to the Internet café in town to do some research to see what they can find on the Pommel of Azathoth.” Laura looked down at her phone and was silent for a bit, her eyes indicating that she was reading something. “And Danny and Kirsh texted to say they’ll be stopping at a motel tonight and be here in the morning.”

“Well,” her father commented, “when they arrive, one of them can have my bed.”  Carmilla and Laura both raised an eyebrow at him.  “I was just ordered to take command of the zombie situation in Silas,” he elaborated, “apparently there are reports of a lot of vampires entering the campus, too. I guess the Dean is building a vampire army in addition to the zombie one?”  He looked at Laura and spoke cautiously.  “So how about we make this mission a family business? You guys can do the research, and I’ll do the field work?”  Laura nodded, accepting her father’s preposition.  “Good,” he sighed, the relief evident in his voice. “I have arrangements to make, so why don’t you two head back to the house?”

Laura hugged her father in a warm embrace. “I love you, dad,” she said, planting a small peck on his cheek.

“I love you, too, Laura.”

 

Carmilla and Laura went to the car, with Carmilla driving once again.  After driving for a couple minutes in silence, Carmilla broke it.  “Is there an ice cream parlor in town?”

Laura nodded.  “Why?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes from her window until they landed on Laura for full effect.  “Oh, gee, pumpkin, I dunno,” she drawled, sarcasm dripping from every word, “I just thought to myself, ‘Carmy, you know what you _haven’t_ asked Laura yet? If there’s an ice cream parlor in town!’”

Laura giggled and playfully shoved her vampire a bit. Carmilla smiled. “Goodness, Carm, give me a break, my noggin’s been dented!”

Carmilla took a beat and then answered truthfully, “It just felt like an ‘ice cream’ kind of day, cupcake.”

 

By the time they pulled up to the house, the ice cream cones had barely been touched, since it was still really cold out, and only getting colder as the sun set.  They walked into the house and found it empty, Lafontaine and Perry having left for the Internet café already.

“Ooh,” Carmilla breathed out, handing Laura her cone so she could start a fire.  “We’re _alone_.”

Now it was Laura’s turn to roll her eyes. “Subtlety is so not a thing for you, huh?”

“Subtlety can bite me,” she said, causing Laura to giggle.  Carmilla reached to pull her into an embrace.

 

In one swift motion, Laura swiped Carmilla’s ice cream cone across her face, leaving a thick trail of rocky road over her girlfriend’s nose.

“What the––”  Carmilla blinked in surprise.

Laura burst out laughing, almost dropping both cones.

Carmilla stood there stiffly, glaring at her tiny adversary.  “Glad to see _someone_ is feeling better,” she grumbled.  “You’re lucky you’re cute.” Laura giggled as she handed Carmilla back her cone and went to the kitchen to get a wet paper towel.

 

Laura entered the living room but couldn’t immediately spot her girlfriend.

“Damn, buttercup, you really do see the pure goodness in everyone, don’t you?” came a voice from the doorway back out of the house. “I could’ve totally gotten revenge on you just now and you would’ve just been taken by surprise.”

“Pfft, please, like you’d do anything with this pout in my arsenal,” Laura said, demonstrating with one.

Carmilla laughed and walked over to a large window facing the driveway, pulling back the curtains.  “Hon, you’ve figured me out.”  Carmilla stared at the window.  Laura walked over and leaned against her. Both sat down on the carpet and stared out the window for a bit, eating their ice cream cones.

“The stars look amazing tonight,” Laura said. Carmilla looked down at her tiny human and smiled, seeing the wonder in her eyes.

“I would suggest we sit out on the lawn and stargaze,” she said, giving Laura a small kiss on her temple and wrapping an arm around her, “but I don’t think I’d like having an icicle as a girlfriend.”

Laura leaned her head on Carmilla’s shoulder and Carmilla rested her head on Laura’s.  After a short while, both finished their ice cream cones, and Laura muttered, “I’d make a damn cute icicle, though.”

Carmilla laughed.  “Yes, you would, sweetie.”

The rest of the night was spent in silence as they stared out the window and eventually fell asleep on the carpet.


	8. This Is War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura are caught in a compromising position. Once the group has been reunited, they get down to brass tactics. Determined to take down lophiiformes and the Dean, they come up with a plan to find the weapon needed. Also, Carmilla and Laura wind up camping.

“ _Oh my god what the hell?_ ”

Carmilla grabbed the nearest thing near her and flung it at whoever was speaking and disturbing her slumber.  
“Carm, my phone!”  Laura screamed.

“Caught it, got it, it’s fine,” the offending voice said, reassuring Laura.

Carmilla finally opened her eyes and saw that she had accidentally thrown her phone at Danny, who caught it and was handing it back to Laura, who cradled it like her baby.

“Uhh, what happened here?” Lafontaine asked, indicating the fact that Laura and Carmilla had apparently slept the whole night on the floor.  “You two do know there are three perfectly good beds upstairs, right?  I know for a fact one of you lives here.”

Laura gave a small chuckle and poked Carmilla, who was slowly falling back asleep.  “Guess the carpet was more comfortable than I thought.”  Carmilla grumped and rolled over, facing Laura and away from the small group entering the house.

“Danny and Kirsh texted us so we met up with them outside the café and drove back here,” Perry explained.

Laura bounced up, basically trying to crush Danny in a hug. “I’ve missed you so much!” she squealed.  Danny laughed and hugged Laura back.

Carmilla remained lying on the ground half-asleep as Laura got Danny and Kirsh settled in while Perry and Lafontaine prepared breakfast. Eventually she heard footsteps she identified as Laura’s approach her.  “Carm, breakfast is ready,” she whispered, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

“Unless you guys have made stew with blood in it, or something with blood sausage, I don’t care,” she huffed, flashing Laura a smile to let her know she was joking.

Laura responded with just a pout.

“Oh my god, cupcake, save it for when it’s a life-or-death situation,” she said, standing up and joining the others in the kitchen.

 

Perry had prepared a relatively standard breakfast – eggs, both scrambled and sunny-side up, bacon, toast, and some hashed potatoes. Carmilla had some leftover blood in a thermos from their run-in with the Gingerdead Lady.  Laura also had a pack of cookies by her, which she would randomly eat from at her leisure.

“So, uh, are you guys gonna tell us what happened?” Danny asked, gesturing with her fork at Laura’s bruised hand.

“Oh, right, how’s it feeling?” Carmilla asked, internally kicking herself for not having asked sooner.

“It’s stiff and it hurts, but nothing I can’t handle,” Laura said, giving Carmilla a smile to thank her for asking.

“Okay, but you know what it looked like to us when we walked in on you dudes, right?” Kirsh asked.  “It looked like you and vampire-hottie had a fight and you punched her and then you both just knocked each other unconscious.”

Danny nodded.  “Hence me asking ‘what the hell’ when we woke you guys up.”

Carmilla scowled.  “Are you guys insinuating that if Laura and I got into a physical altercation, she’d get a punch in and I wouldn’t leave any marks on her?”

Lafontaine laughed.  “Have you _seen_ Laura? Girl’s got mad skills.” Carmilla nodded to accept their point.

The rest of the meal went by filled with small talk and catching up on the events since the tremors chased most of the group from the campus.

 

As the meal came to an end, Perry offered, “Oh, Lafontaine, we should tell them what we found out!” as she cleared the table of dirty dishes.

“Oh, right” they said.  “So J.P. tapped into the Internet since now the Silas Internet wasn’t fencing him in, and after hours and hours of research into the wee hours of the morning, we found out various accounts about the Pommel of Azathoth.” They started holding up fingers to reel off the different stories.  “One says it was last used in a battle against some Loch Ness monster-esque monster in a lake.  One says a knight used it to fight off this like, Big Foot sorta thing in a cave.  One says it was used to defeat some trolls in a forest.” They gave a small chuckle. “We discarded some other tales that made no sense, like one that said it was used in a D&D tournament that ended in mortal combat.  Or in Mortal Kombat. Either is possible, really.”

“But we have no way of knowing which of those three accounts is the real one?” Laura asked.

“Nope,” Laf replied.

“Okay, well, there are six of us,” Danny pointed out. “So we could split up into three groups and search each place.”

“Sounds good, Xena.”  Carmilla wrapped her arm around Laura.  “I’ll take Perry.”

“The hell you will,” Laf snapped and stuck out her tongue.  Laura narrowed her eyes at Carmilla but then smiled.

“It’s set, then?  The pairs seem pretty obvious, and we just need to pick locations,” Perry said, sitting back down with the group.

“I wouldn’t mind the lake,” Kirsh said. Danny gave him a thumbs-up.

Laf spoke next.  “I want to go to the forest.  I feel like I’d feel right at home there.”  Perry nodded.

“Home with the trolls?” Laura teased.

“Ah ha, ah ha, not funny, Hollis.” Laf threw a napkin at her. “As a _bio major._ ”

Carmilla nudged Laura with her shoulder. “Are you okay with the cave, cupcake?” Laura nodded.

 

Lafontaine gave out directions to the group, and they dispersed within a couple hours.  By early evening, Laura and Carmilla were beyond halfway to the cave when they decided to set up camp.  Carmilla did most of the grunt work, setting up the tent, the sleeping bags, and a fire.  Laura took care of the preparations, cooking herself dinner and setting out Carmilla’s thermos. Each group had set out with easy-cook meals that could be cooked over a small fire, estimating that they should all be back at Laura’s house the night after.  Laura had also put a couple packs of cookies in her bag, which Carmilla lectured her about eating _after_ she had eaten her dinner.

Laura was collecting her garbage in a plastic bag when she accidentally tripped over a branch in the darkness, stumbling and ripping the bag.  Garbage fell out of it and Laura fell into the garbage.

Carmilla, of course, burst out laughing.

“Carm,” Laura whined, “could you at least laugh _while_ you help me up?”

Carmilla kept laughing, and Laura finally had enough and picked up some snow near her and lobbed it in Carmilla’s face.

Carmilla stopped laughing.  “Y’know, hon, that’s twice now, if we count the ice cream fiasco from last night,” she said, gritting her teeth, “which I do.”

Laura huffed.  “I’m just saying, I’m clumsy and you sitting there laughing while I’m stumbling around and swimming in my own garbage isn’t helpi––” Her rant was cut off by a snowball to the face.

“Am I helping, now?” Carmilla sneered.

 

Laura blinked for a second before screaming, “This is war!” quickly forming another snowball to throw at her girlfriend.

“You asked for it,” Carmilla declared, returning fire.

Laura stood up, ducking for cover behind a tree. Carmilla grinned as she made a snowball and threw it at the tree, hard.

“You missed me,” Laura mocked, sticking out her tongue.

“Did I?”

Laura looked up as the tree’s branches decided to unleash all the snow resting on them onto Laura.  Confusion grew as Laura transformed into a 5’2 pile of snow. Carmilla resumed the same level of hysterical laughter as she did when Laura fell earlier, walking over and brushing all the snow off Laura.

“Now we’re _even_ ,” she said, taking Laura over to the fire to melt the snow off her.

 

They fell asleep next to the fire in their respective sleeping bags, with Laura muttering promises of revenge while Carmilla patronized her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a bit of a doozy, so I made sure to fit in as much fluff as I could into this one, haha. Hope you're enjoying the ride!


	9. The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura split up in the cave, only to be faced with an immediate danger from the Dean.

They found the cave with little problem. Carmilla good-naturedly teased Laura several times along the way for holding her back, which usually earned her some huffs or more lobbed snowballs at the back of her head. As they approached the cave, they realized they had grossly underestimated its size.

“Are we sure Laf meant ‘cave,’ and not ‘an entire hollowed-out mountain?’” Carmilla asked.

“Is that why you were happy to pick the cave?” demanded Laura. “You thought it’d be the easiest to search?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes.  “I mean, come on, shortcake, I went diving for the last search, and then almost died right after.”  She blinked innocently, batting her eyelashes.  “Doesn’t that count for anything?”

Laura giggled and gave Carmilla a peck on the cheek. She gestured at the huge cave in front of them.  “Apparently not,” she said, watching her girlfriend scowl at it.

“I guess this’ll go faster if we split up?”

Laura gave a fake pout.  “What’s the matter?  You don’t wanna be alone with me in a cave?”

“As romantic as that sounds,” Carmilla gave a wry chuckle and planted a small kiss on her lips, “we both have working eyeballs and then we can be together _outside_ of the cave sooner.”

“Fine.”

Laura took the right half of the large cave while Carmilla took the left.  The first room split off into two tunnels, which led to more tunnels branching out, once again proving to Laura that they had not taken into account how large the cave would be.

 

After about half an hour of wandering, Laura received a text from Carmilla.  “ _Did you hear me call your name?_ ”  Laura texted back she didn’t.

“Carmilla?” she called, texting the same question back while walking, eyes trained on her phone.

She got back the same answer, followed by another text that read, “ _Guess this cave’s acoustics suck for everyone._ ”

“Wow, it’s true what they say,” Laura looked up from her phone at a new voice.  There was a man and a woman standing in front of her.  Both looked to be in their early twenties, dressed in a pea coat and slacks. The woman was speaking. “This generation just has their eyes glued to their phone.”  There was a glimmer in her eyes that unnerved Laura.

The man rushed at Laura with supernatural speed, which Laura identified as akin to Will and Carmilla’s.  “Who are you texting?” he asked, with a mocking gossip tone.

“So, uhm, you’re vampires,” Laura said slowly. “Vampires, in this cave.” She gave a nervous giggle. “That’s, uh…”  She flashed a grin all too big.  “Well, as great as this is, I’m gonna––”

The man swatted the phone out of her hand and across the floor.  _What is it with vampires taking my phone from me?_ Laura thought.

“I’m James, and this is Elizabeth,” he said, coming way too close to her face.  He had a slight English accent.  “No chance you’re Mircalla’s human, is there?”

“Honey, she goes by ‘Carmilla,’ now,” the woman chided. “Dear, please tell us, where is Carmilla?”  Her voice came out with a forced gentleness, reminiscent of the way Carmilla used to speak to her before the whole tied-to-a-chair incident.

When Laura didn’t say anything further, James circled around her and grabbed her, with one arm wrapped around her shoulders and the other around her waist, trapping her arms.  “Where is she?” he hissed in her ear.

 

As if right on cue, Carmilla walked into the tunnel where they were standing.  Her eyes widened as soon as she saw the scene in front of her, shoving something into her bag. “James.  Elizabeth,” she greeted through gritted teeth. “Mind letting my girlfriend go?”

“Mircalla,” Elizabeth greeted back, stepping between Laura and Carmilla.  “We’ll let her go when we get what you just not-so-subtly shoved in your bag.”

Carmilla shook her head.  “Not gonna happen.”  Her eyes shifted to Laura’s, which were telling her Laura was supporting the decision to not hand the Pommel of Azathoth over.

“Hmm.”  Elizabeth clicked her tongue.  “Fine, have it your way.”

Before Elizabeth finished speaking, James clamped his mouth down on Laura’s neck and bit down.  Laura shrieked in pain and shock, and wiggled to get away, but James held her in place. 

 

Carmilla charged forwards, but Elizabeth grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her into the tunnel wall.  James was still drinking from Laura, whose eyelids were starting to droop.  Deciding not to wait for her vampire to rescue her, Laura stomped as hard as she could on her attacker’s foot, putting as much force in her heel as possible. She felt James’s grip loosen momentarily, and took advantage of it to whip her head back into James’s nose, the shock of which caused him to let go of her altogether.

Laura ran at Elizabeth and gave her a strong blow to the back, winding the vampire and surprising her.  Laura didn’t hesitate to run past her and into Carmilla’s arms.

Carmilla was ready and grabbed Laura, using vampire speed to run out of the cave.  James took after them first, catching up right outside of the cave, and tackling them to the ground.  Laura flew from Carmilla’s hold.  Carmilla flew into a small tree hard enough to knock it over and for her to lose her backpack, while Laura landed a few feet away with a grunt.

Elizabeth caught up to them by the time Laura lifted her head.  She watched in horror as the two vampires approached Carmilla, who was still lying, dazed. Laura picked up a rock nearby and threw it at the back of James’s head.  “Leave her alone, you overgrown mosquitos!” she yelled.  The vampires turned around to face her but did not walk away from Carmilla.  Laura saw Carmilla finally get up behind them and look at Laura, smiling with something – pride? gratefulness? – in her eyes.  She rushed to her bag and grabbed the Pommel of Azathoth out of it, but before she could do anything else, James tripped her and Elizabeth grabbed it out of Carmilla’s hands.

 

“Why do you want it?” Carmilla growled up at them.

“Mother sent us to get anything that could jeopardize her plans,” Elizabeth explained.

James sneered.  “There’s also a bonus if we kill you.”

There was a sound behind them, but before either vampire could react, Laura was plunging a sharp wooden branch into James’s chest. He screamed in pain and dark-colored lights shot out from him as he dropped the Pommel onto the ground. This continued for a few seconds, with Elizabeth staring in horror until James simply vanished.

“You!” Elizabeth shrieked before backhanding Laura hard enough to send her flying across the clearing, but not before Laura tossed a second sharp branch towards Carmilla.  Laura landed with a thud and Elizabeth seemed torn between pursuing the human or turning her attention back to the vampire. This was all the hesitation Carmilla needed before impaling the woman with the branch.  Similar to James, lights with a dark hue emitted from Elizabeth’s body before she simply blinked out of sight.  Carmilla grabbed the Pommel and rushed over to Laura, who was still lying face down on the ground.

 

“Laura!  Hey, Laura!” Carmilla whispered, worry evident in her voice as she gently rolled Laura over.  Laura slowly opened her eyes and squinted up at her.  Carmilla let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.  “Are you okay?”

Laura reached up to touch her jaw where Elizabeth had hit her and winced.  Carmilla couldn’t help but notice that Laura’s jaw was turning the red color her hand had been yesterday.  “I think so?” Laura’s hand moved from her jaw to stroke Carmilla’s cheek.  “Are you?”

Carmilla smiled and turned her head to kissed Laura’s palm.  “I’m fine.” She looked over at the bite marks in Laura’s neck and carefully touched it.

“Ohh, right,” Laura said, flinching a little. “That’d explain the lightheadedness.” She shrugged a bit. “Thought it was from my head being bounced around.”

A look of concern flashed over Carmilla’s eyes. “He took a lot, didn’t he?”

Laura smiled at her girlfriend. “The well’s running a little dry,” she replied, earning a wry chuckle from Carmilla.

“As caretaker for this adorable well,” Carmilla said, maneuvering Laura into her arms, “I promise to uphold my responsibilities by carrying you back home.”  She went to lift the tiny girl up, but stopped when she started to protest.

“Carm, as much as I appreciate the gesture –– and believe me, I do ––”

Carmilla huffed.  “You’re not in any shape to walk back like this,” she said firmly.

“I agree,” Laura said.  “But since it’s already, like, late afternoon, and I’m pretty sure I might pass out from the blood loss soon, and you can't poof us both home, how about we set up camp, rest, and then continue the trip back early tomorrow?”

Carmilla thought for a moment before agreeing. She placed Laura against the side of the cave and went about setting up camp.

 

She had set up the tent and was dragging out the sleeping bags before she finally realized Laura had been staring at her. Or, more specifically, her ass. “How long have you been looking?” Carmilla asked, glaring at her.

“A while,” Laura giggled.  “Pfft, and _I’m_ the oblivious one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find a way to not throw some action into this fic - old habits die hard, I guess, haha! Hope you enjoyed it.


	10. What I Love About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla cooks Laura dinner and gives her a much-needed talk about becoming a vampire, and what they love about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I really, really hope I wrote them as in-character as possible!)

Laura isn’t sure when it happened, but she apparently fell asleep and woke up during early evening when she heard footsteps approaching.  She was relieved to see it was Carmilla.

“Twitchy, hmm, creampuff?” she teased.

Laura stood up slowly, still slightly lightheaded from the blood loss she’d suffered earlier.  Her jaw was now throbbing.  “Pfft, who among the two of us totally held her own against two vampires as a human?” She guesses her attempt to be flippant to cover her less-than-ideal state was unsuccessful because Carmilla simply frowned at her.

“The nap didn’t do much, huh?” She set a sack down by the fire. “Maybe some actual dinner will help.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I went out to refill my thermos with animal blood,” she said, opening the sack, “and decided to kill two birds with one stone and get you some dinner, too.”

Laura walked over.  “You know how to cook?”

Carmilla nodded.  “My father used to take me out hunting,” she explained quietly, “which my mother –– my human mother–– absolutely hated.”  She gave a chuckle before continuing.  “But I was an only child and while my father never actually said anything to me, I know he wanted a son.  And as long as I did my part as a young woman by attending parties and behaving, she allowed me to join my father in ‘boy’ activities like hunting and sports.” Laura smiled at the way Carmilla eyes shone while talking about her past, the way her voice sounded distant and full of warmth and wonder.  “I guess it’s good I got the best of both worlds – dancing and hunting – because both were useful in wooing you.”  She gave a wink.

“Wow,” Laura said after a moment, laughing, “I had no idea I was being ‘wooed.’”

Carmilla laughed, too.  “Guess that means I’m doing a good job.”  She reached into her pocked and handed Laura her cracked iPhone. “I also went back into the cave and got it for you while you were sleeping.”

Laura smiled.  “Thanks, Carm.”

 

The girls were quiet while Carmilla cooked Laura dinner. For once, Carmilla insisted Laura eat cookies, to keep her sugar level up, especially when she seemed too out of it to random like she usually did.  In a couple hours, Laura was eating some nice venison while Carmilla drank from her thermos. “This is so good, Carm,” she complimented, her mouth full.  “The whole lightheadedness thing is starting to go away.”

“Glad to hear it, buttercup,” Carmilla said, grinning. “You were starting to look more pale than me.”  They sat in silence for a bit before Carmilla spoke again.  “Laura,” she began.

“Ooh, this is totally definitely important if you’re using my actual name,” Laura teased.

Carmilla gave a humorless chuckle before continuing. “A-Are you okay? I don’t mean physically, I mean…” she inhaled deeply.  “I mean about killing James.”

“Oh, gosh,” Laura’s hands flew up to her mouth. “I’m sorry!  You knew them, didn’t you?  And I just killed one and then helped you kill the other one…”

“Christ, Hollis, the one time I’m trying to be a properly concerned girlfriend, and leave it to you to turn this whole thing around and ask me if _I’m_ okay!” Carmilla gave a long exasperated sigh and Laura flinched.  “I’m sorry. And I’m fine, I’ve only known them since… since the coffin,” she answered, her voice softening. “I was asking if you’re okay because you just killed someone.”

Laura looked pensive, chewing slowly. “Hmm.  I mean, yeah, it was weird to stick a tree branch into someone’s chest and then watch them die.  But no more weird than pushing a giant rock on top of someone?”

Carmilla blinked at her in confusion. “What?”

Laura blushed.  “Uhm, when we were fighting the Dean,” she replied slowly. “She was hanging off the edge near the bottom of the pit and yelling at us so I kinda, uhm –– I sorta… pushed this rock also on the edge and it hit her and she fell.  I mean, I thought I killed her, and apparently I didn’t, so maybe that doesn’t count more than me staking James, but…”

“You _what_?” Carmilla shook her head and scoffed, a smile forming.  “I swear, creampuff, even though I just saw you beat up two vampires today and kill one, and help take down a werewolf a couple days ago, you never cease to surprise me.”

Laura looked proud and grinned at her girlfriend. “Is that why you’re with me? Because you don’t have to trouble yourself with protecting me 24/7?”

Carmilla stood up from her spot across the fire and sat next to Laura, looking directly into her eyes.  “Laura, you do know that me being with you has nothing to do with you being physically strong, right?”

Laura looked down.  “I’m not sure why you’re with me, exactly.”   She dug a toe into the ground. “I know I can be annoying and irritating and stubborn and strong-willed and obnoxious sometimes––”

“‘Sometimes?’”  Carmilla quirked her eyebrows.

Laura gave her a playful smack. “What I’m saying is, I’m not anything special, but you put up with me, and you can be so loving and caring, and I love that you put up with my crap when I don’t bring anything to the table.”

 

Carmilla’s eyes bugged out, looking at this tiny girl sitting next to her like she had just taken a cookie, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it in front of her.

Laura panicked, not knowing what the look meant. “Dammit, I-I-I shouldn’t have said anything,” she stammered.  “Just, uhm,” she buried her face in her hands.  “Just forget I said anything and pretend I answered that I know you being with me has nothing to do with my physical strength.  Or don’t and just do me a favor and throw me into the fire so I don’t have to look at you.”

Carmilla laughed and removed Laura’s hands from her face.  “You silly little idiot,” she said, shaking her head, chuckling.  “My silly little idiot.”  Laura let out a groan.  “I am with you _because_ you’re strong-willed and stubborn, and even because you’re annoying and obnoxious and irritating. I love that you’re all these things and that when you describe me, the first thing you can think of is that I can be caring and loving.”

Laura looked skeptical.  “Really?”

Carmilla sighed.  “I wish I could slap some sense into you,” she said. “This is almost as bad as when you kept saying that you thought I wasn’t doing things for you.” Laura looked like she was about to say something so Carmilla cut her off.  “And if I ever hear you say that to me again, I _will_ slap you, regardless if it has any effect.”

Laura nodded and pretended to zip her lips closed.

 

“Do you know how a vampire is made?” Carmilla asked suddenly.

Laura thought for a second.  “No,” she finally answered.  “No, you kinda skipped over that part during the puppet show.”

Carmilla gave a small laugh and then stared intently at the fire.  “If you’re dying and you ingest a vampire’s blood,” she began, her voice distant, “there’s this pull. And it’s like, there’s this one side that’s promising you eternal peace and rest.  But then there’s this other side whispering to you that there’s things you need to do, that there’s more exciting things to live through and see, that there’s a chance to explore a monster inside of you. There’s a choice, you see.” Carmilla looked down at the ground. “If you decide to pick the latter, you wake up as a vampire.”

Her eyes slowly wandered back up to Laura’s, and she bit her lip.  “Hon, I spent almost three and a half centuries believing I was a monster.  The things I did, the choices I made…  It’s just how I always identified myself, and no one ever told me different.  And then, I met you. This naïve girl who seemed convinced she could solve the world’s problems by vlogging and shaming people into doing their laundry and clearing out the shower drain.”

Laura giggled.  “And then you found out my secret, that I was a vampire, and instead of calling me a monster,” she wrapped an arm around Laura and pulled her in for a small embrace, “this girl told me I deserved more than the life I was given and didn’t condemn me.  Best of all, she recognized my flaws and my misdeeds.  She didn’t sugarcoat that I had helped murder dozens of girls, and accepted that I had a part.  But she offered me chances to redeem myself.”

Carmilla gave Laura’s shoulder a squeeze. “And you let me be myself. You didn’t flinch when I drank blood in front of you.  You made me better and want to _be_ better,” she finished. “I love you and care about you because you do the same for me.”

Laura blinked at her, taking everything in, finally leaning her head on Carmilla’s shoulder.  “I know you think you’re not good at this feelings thing, but I think that’s just a ruse,” she whispered, giggling.  “Because you’re pretty damn good at it.”

 

Laura wasn’t sure why, but she was glad neither of them had said that they loved each other yet, and simply said what they loved about each other.  It felt much more sincere and profound.

“Thank you for loving and caring about me, Carm,” she whispered.

Carmilla buried a small kiss in Laura’s hair. “Right back at you, hon,” she murmured.

The two sat there, staring into the fire for a while. Eventually, Carmilla spoke.

“Also, you’re a really good kisser, cupcake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much the last fluffy chapter in this work, coz after this it just gets to the nitty-gritty part of dealing with the Dean lophiiformes.


	11. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group receives a jarring confirmation that the Blade of Hastur will, in fact, consume whoever wields it. Carmilla and Laura find themselves in an argument about their future, leading to an abrupt ending.

Carmilla and Laura made it back to Laura’s house by noon the next day with little excitement.  The Pommel of Azathoth was securely in Carmilla’s bag by the time they entered to find the entire group nervously awaiting their return.

“What took you so long?” Danny demanded, hugging Laura and giving Carmilla a quick nod.  “Why does Laura have this huge bruise on her jaw?  And what’s with these huge bite marks in her neck?!”

“Calm down, Xena,” Carmilla said, rolling her eyes. “We ran into some problems with a couple of my mother’s henchmen, but Laura here took them on better than I did. And we found the Pommel of Azathoth.”

Laura sat down, taking off her backpack. Carmilla did the same, taking the Pommel out.

“Yeah one of them hit me pretty hard and the other bit me and took a decent amount of blood, so me traveling wasn’t the smartest idea,” Laura said.  “We decided to extend the trip so I could rest up first, but our phones died before the sun even set.”

Danny looked as satisfied as she could be with the answer.

“Well, glad you’re all right, Hollis,” Lafontaine said.

Perry nodded.  “Yes, we’re so relieved.”

“We were so concerned because neither of you were returning our texts or picking up calls,” Danny explained.

“Also, your father called the house when he couldn’t get a hold of you,” Kirsh spoke up.  “He’s on his way back from Silas.  There’s not much he can do from there, since the other Zetas and Summer Society members, and his monster hunting bros are already keeping an eye on the zombie situation and the Dean.”  Laura nodded.

“Where’d you guys put the Blade of Hastur?” Carmilla asked.

Danny got off her seat and went upstairs to Richard’s room to get it.

“Good thing she made sure to tell the Zetas to get it from the pit when she carried you outta there, Carm,” Laura commented. Danny returned with it. Carmilla attached the Pommel of Azathoth to the Blade of Hastur with minimal effort.

 

“Okay so now we––” Laura began, but was cut off immediately.

Carmilla gasped in pain as the grip of the Blade of Hastur burned her hand.  Everyone stared in shock as smoke came from her hand and it turned red.  The redness began to spread up Carmilla’s arm.

Laura was the first to snap out of it. She slipped the Blade from Carmilla’s hand, removed the Pommel, and threw the offending objects on the floor. “Are you okay?” she asked, rushing Carmilla to the sink and running the hand under cold water. Carmilla hissed as the water ran over her hand and arm.  Her eyes met Laura’s and Carmilla nodded.

“I, uh, guess that’s the ‘consuming’ thing The Dean was referring to,” Lafontaine said.

“The burn isn’t healing,” Carmilla noted. “The skin should’ve gone back to its usual pale color by now.”

“Maybe the weapon doesn’t recognize vampiric healing abilities?” Danny offered.

Laura huffed.  “The first aid kit is upstairs,” she said, gently taking Carmilla by the wrist.

“We’ll start making lunch,” Perry said, trying to find something to do.  Kirsh stood up to help her.

 

Once Laura found the kit in the bathroom, she joined Carmilla, who was sitting on Laura’s bed frowning down at the burn. Laura began dressing it. “Well, obviously,” she said, putting some ointment on it, “we’ll have to find some other weapon to go after the Dean and lophiiformes.”

“What do you mean?” Carmilla asked.

“I mean, you can’t even hold the weapon without it burning you, and this time it might actually consume you, and we can’t have that,” Laura pointed out as if it was obvious.

Carmilla shook her head.  “We don’t have any other choice.”

Laura was wrapping a bandage around Carmilla’s wrist and over her hand.  “You’re just saying that because we haven’t found anything else.”

“I’m saying it because it’s true.” Laura was done now, her hand resting on Carmilla’s shoulder.

“We can have J.P. keep looking. Who knows?  He might find something now that he couldn’t find at Silas ––”

“Dammit, Laura!”  Carmilla slapped Laura’s hand away and stood up.  She tried to ignore the hurt in the smaller girl’s eyes. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so damn optimistic.”

“And sometimes I wish you weren’t so damn pessimistic! But I guess you can’t always have what you want,” Laura snapped back.  She took inhaled deeply before speaking again.  “Look, we’re not using the Blade and the Pommel unless it’s our last option.”

Carmilla scoffed.  “And what if it is?  Who are you to decide what is and isn’t our last option?”

“The person who will be left behind, alone, after watching her girlfriend get consumed by a sword, that’s who!” Laura’s eyes began to well up.  “I can’t lose you again, Carm. I don’t know how I survived that week, but I won’t go through it again.  I can’t go through it again.”

 

“That’s not fair,” Carmilla pointed out, her voice cracking.  “You are not allowed to use my mortality against me because, guess what, cupcake?” Angry tears started to flow freely. “Even if I don’t use the damn Blade and Pommel, one day, you’re going to die, and I will have to spend eternity alone.”

“Carm—”

“You’re so human, Laura.  And that means you get to be looking at things from a tiny, human lifespan.  Meanwhile, I get labeled a pessimist because I’ve seen the terrible things human lives have to offer, and I still want to save you humans, because you make me feel human, too!”

“Carm, I didn’t––”

Carmilla’s pretty sure she’s never yelled like this before.  “But I’m not human. Even if you all perished in a zombie apocalypse, I’d still be standing there, trying to carry on without you. I can’t do that. I can’t spend immortality knowing I didn’t do everything in my power to be the person you deserved. I need to redeem myself, and you can’t just _take that away_ by invoking my own mortality when it’s in exchange for your stupid, short human life.”

 

Carmilla stormed out of Laura’s bedroom, ignoring the “Carm” Laura sobbed out.  She just needed to _leave_ , get away from Laura and from all the words that had just come spewing out, words that she had meant to keep inside as long as she could.  Hell, the two hadn’t even formally said “I love you” to each other yet, and here she was, already shouting about how her girlfriend would die on her within decades.

Before she knew it, Carmilla was downstairs, facing a very concerned group of eavesdroppers, which now included Laura’s father.

“Whoa,” Kirsh breathed out.  Carmilla gave him a glare and he visibly shrunk.

 

Suddenly, there were sounds of various objects clattering from Laura’s room.  Carmilla guessed the girl had gone from crying about what Carmilla had just yelled about, to becoming angry at the whole situation.  That is, until there was screaming and a sudden shriek of, “ _CARMILLA!_ ” ringing through the house.

Carmilla ran back upstairs, only to find Laura’s bedroom in complete disarray, but otherwise empty.  “Laura?” she asked, even though she knew Laura wasn’t there.

Her body went cold as she slumped down onto the bed in defeat.


	12. Something We Agree On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura's father butt heads about their current situation. Carmilla receives a call from Laura's kidnapper with a request for a trade.

Carmilla paced in the kitchen, tears in her eyes, borderline hyperventilating, as she had been for the past hour and a half. “I messed up, I messed up,” she repeated, running her hand through her hair.

“Okay, okay,” Perry said, trying to remain calm while leaning against a doorway next to Lafontaine.  “Maybe she just, uhm, threw things all over in her room i-in anger, and then snuck out through her window?  Could that be a thing?”

Richard, who was sitting with Danny and Kirsh, shook his head and sighed.  “She’s never snuck out before and I don’t think she would’ve just jumped out her window from that high up onto all those rocks.”

“If something happens to her, the last thing she’ll remember is that I called her mortal and stupid.”  She was visibly becoming more agitated.  “I screwed _up_ ,” Carmilla growled, slamming her fist into the wall and creating a small hole.

“O-Okay,” Danny stammered, rushing over to the vampire, but not touching her.  “That’s not helping.”

“I’d say Carmilla has done more than enough helping,” Richard snapped.

“Whoa, alright,” Laf said, holding their hands up. “I mean, I appreciate you letting us stay in your house, sir, but turning against each other isn’t going to–”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Carmilla demanded. “This coming from the man who almost got his daughter eaten by a werewolf after lying to her for her whole life?”

“None of this would be happening if you didn’t walk into her life!”  He slammed his fist down, making everyone except Carmilla jump.  “I had her protected for eighteen years, and then you move in with her and she finds out everything!  And now look where she is!”

Carmilla charged across the room towards the man. “If it wasn’t for me,” Carmilla said through gritted teeth, “Laura would’ve been sacrificed to lophiiformes and you would have been none the wiser.”

 

As if right on cue, Carmilla’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and her eyes widened when it showed it was Laura.  She looked around the room and was met with similarly befuddled faces. She answered the call and put it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

There was some slight scuffling. “Ah, hi.  Hey, Carm,” Laura stammered, her voice dripping with trepidation. “So, uhm, I’ve been kidnapped, and, uh–”

Carmilla could hear a voice in the background that she couldn’t quite place.

“Okay,” Laura quickly replied, presumably to the voice. “Your mother took me and she would really, _really_ like the Blade of Hastur and the Pommel of Azathoth.”

“Are you okay, Laura?”  Carmilla’s mind was going a mile a minute, imagining the worst.

“I’m great, just peachy,” Laura answered, her voice much higher than usual.  “In fact, I’m doing so great that I’m gonna suggest you _ignore_ your crazy mother––”

There was a loud smacking sound accompanied by a grunt, then a loud cracking noise.  Carmilla stifled a gasp.  After some rustling, another voice spoke.  “Mircalla,” it greeted.

“Mother.”

A snicker was heard.  “This little cockroach you’ve claimed as your lover probably has a slight concussion from the blow I just delivered. If you do not wish me to cause further harm to her, you will deliver the items I have requested tomorrow at 5pm at the location of our last encounter.  Am I being unclear in any way?”

Carmilla closed her eyes and sighed. “No, Mother.”

“You will do as I have instructed?”

“Yes, Mother.”  Carmilla received mixed looks from around the room.

Laura’s voice rang in clear in the background: “Carmilla, no!  Don’t do––” Another smack was heard.

“My, my, this one sure is chatty. Much more talkative than Elle was, huh?” Carmilla winced and could practically see the grin on the other end.  The Dean cackled. “Okay, bye-bye now, Mircalla.” The call ended.

 

A long silence followed.  Lafontaine finally spoke up.  “What are we going to do?”

Carmilla looked at Richard, who was wringing his hands. “I love your daughter,” she admitted. “I haven’t actually said it to her, but I love her.  I never thought love was something I could feel, or was worthy of feeling, but I swear to you, I love your daughter.”  She took a deep breath.  “And I won’t let anything happen to her, if I can help it.”  She looked around the room.  “I’m bringing my mother the Blade of Hastur and the Pommel of Azathoth, and then I’m killing her and lophiiformes with them.”

Richard regarded Carmilla for a few seconds in silence and then a small smile appeared.  “Something we can agree on, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the feels I've caused last chapter/this chapter/ in the coming chapters hahaha


	13. Hell Hath No Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the group spends their last day making preparations, Carmilla finds support in Laura's friends. Blood is shed before the battle even begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance...

The rest of the day was spent with the house in a massive chaos.  Danny, Kirsh, and Richard took over the living room with drawings of battle plans and a growing collection of weapons.  In the kitchen, Lafontaine and Carmilla continued doing research with J.P. on lophiiformes, the Pommel of Azathoth, and the Blade of Hastur, with Laf working with J.P.’s interface and Carmilla ready to translate any Sumerian passages.  Perry flitted about the house, making sure everyone remained fed and that things remained organized, carrying messages between the group as needed. The buzz continued into the evening, with Perry serving burgers for convenience.

“How are you holding up?” Lafontaine asked Carmilla, who was sipping blood from her thermos.

Carmilla sighed.  “Trying not to think about it.”

Laf nodded.  “Understandable,” they replied, letting a moment pass before continuing.  “Just know that… it’s not your fault.  No one blames you.”

Carmilla raised an eyebrow and looked towards Richard in the next room.

“He doesn’t blame you, either,” Perry said from behind them, giving Laf another burger.  “I think he did to you what I did to Laura when Lafontaine went missing. He just needed someone to blame to feel like he had some kind of control over the situation.” She gave Carmilla a reassuring smile and walked away.

Laf puffed out their cheeks.  “And as your friend, I can’t condone you using the Blade of Hastur and the Pommel of Azathoth.  But as _Laura’s_ friend,” they took a deep breath, “if it’ll save her life…”

“It still sucks that you’re gonna have to… die,” Danny said, entering the room for another burger.  “I don’t like you, Dead Girl, but I can see why Laura picked you. I don’t necessarily get why she picked you _over me_ , but I do get that you love her and you’re good for each other.  And it sucks that it might have to end tomorrow.”  She gave Carmilla a little nudge.  “And I’m sure everyone’s been saying it to you, but no one blames you for anything that’s happened with Laura.  That’s all on your mother.”

Carmilla offered a tiny smile to Danny. “Thanks, Xena. It means a lot coming from you.” She tried her best to widen her smile at the other girl.  “I also never thanked you for getting me out of that pit and for carrying me back to Laura. You’re the bigger person for having done so.”

Danny gave a small chuckle and nudged Carmilla. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

 

With that, the house continued to be filled with activity, until midnight, when Perry declared they should all go to bed because they would need their rest for tomorrow.  Perry and Laf remained in the guest bedroom, while Richard returned to his bedroom, and Danny and Kirsh were ready to make some kind of an arrangement with the couches and sleeping bags in the living room, until Carmilla intervened.  “You guys can share Laura’s bed,” she said, “it’s big enough to be comfortable enough for you two.”

“What about you?” Kirsh asked.

Carmilla looked down and muttered, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep alone in it.”  She spent the night lying awake on the couches.

 

The group left in the morning to head towards Silas, aiming to be there around 4pm.  The plan was relatively simple: Carmilla and Richard would enter the Lustig building with the Pommel of Azathoth and the Blade of Hastur, while Danny, Kirsh, Lafontaine, and Perry would wait outside for a signal that the battle was beginning. Some of the hunters that worked with Richard were on standby in case the vampire army was too much to handle. Carmilla and Richard didn’t speak much during the trip, which was fine with both of them.

Right on time, they entered the Lustig building, only to find it seemingly empty and the pit covered up haphazardly with thick wooden boards.  Carmilla walked in front while Richard trailed behind, carrying the items.  This, along with the superior eyesight, allowed her to see Laura before him.  She ran towards the small girl, who was slumped over, with her back against a pillar and her head down, her chin on her chest.

 

“Laura, Laura, Laura,” Carmilla rushed, tilting Laura’s head up.  “Hey, Laura?”

Laura slowly blinked her eyes open. There were a few cuts and bruises across her cheeks.  “Carm?” Her voice was raspy. At first, she looked at her adoringly, and Carmilla smiled back.  But the look changed as Laura’s eyes widened in realization.  “No, no, no!  Carm, what are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t just leave you here,” Carmilla said, giving Laura a soft kiss to the lips.  Laura kissed back as Carmilla pulled her into a small embrace.

By then, Richard had come into view.

Laura pulled out of the embrace. “You guys can’t be serious,” she said, noticing the weapons in her father’s hands, looking back at Carmilla with pleading eyes.  Carmilla averted her gaze.

 

“Ah, good,” a voice boomed through the building. “You decided to do the smart thing for once, Mircalla.”  The Dean, a towering, intimidating figure, approached the trio from the shadows beyond the pillar Laura had been leaning against.  “Except I don’t remember telling you that you could bring a friend.” She clicked her tongue and wagged her finger at Carmilla.

“He’s here to help get Laura out of here,” Carmilla explained, having been ready to explain Laura’s father’s presence. “In case I can’t.”

“And why, pray tell, would that be the case?” The Dean, for her merit, seemed sincere in her questioning.  Then she feigned hurt. “You’re not planning to use them again against me, are you?”

Carmilla didn’t answer, rising from Laura’s side. Laura slowly stood up, too, and Carmilla planted herself protectively in front of her.

“Why, Mircalla, this is all a preventative measure, that’s all.  You give me the items, and no one has to get hurt.”

“Why are you doing this, Mother? What are you even planning to do with this zombie army?”

The Dean scoffed.  “Isn’t it obvious?  They’re loyal to _me_. Just like all of these vampires,” she said. This was apparently a command for dozens of vampires to speed into the area, surrounding the trio.  “Unlike some people.”

“Somehow, I doubt that you’re just going to let us go unharmed,” Carmilla spat, taking note of the amount of vampires that had entered the building.

The Dean hissed.  “Have I taught you no manners?  You come into this meeting with an unwelcomed guest, making threats, and then have the audacity to claim––”

“Don’t act so innocent!” Carmilla interrupted. “I know how you work. You’re just trying to pretend to have wanted nothing but peace, and then the moment we turn our backs––”

“––Do _not_ interrupt me!” the Dean screeched.  “How dare you presume to be precognizant of my actions!” Fury burned in her eyes as she fell into a forced silence.

 

When she spoke again, it was with care – calculated, measured, and all the more scary.  “Mircalla, I thought I had taught you a lesson with Elle,” she said, her tone becoming deceivingly sweet.  “But I guess now I’m just going to have to kill _this_ wench, too.”

At that, Richard impulsively swung the Blade at the Dean, only for her to grab the blade and fling it across the room. She hissed at him and, any remnant of control vanished and she delivered a blow to Richard’s chest, sending him flying backwards.

The vampires all started to move against Carmilla, who grabbed Laura, who promptly wrapped her arms around Carmilla, and leapt towards where the Blade had fallen.  She quickly scanned for the Pommel, but surmised it must still be on Richard’s person. Carmilla put Laura down and decided to initiate the signal to the others.  She hit a button that Laf had attached to the hilt of the Blade, which sent a signal to J.P., who told Laf and the others via a laptop interface that it was time to mobilize.

 

Carmilla was too focused on hitting the button, however, that she failed to notice that the vampires had swiftly changed direction and were now swarming towards them.  One vampire decided to take advantage of this, and lobbed a spear right towards Carmilla’s back.  Laura noticed it a split second before Carmilla did and pushed Carmilla out of the way, knocking her over.

Carmilla scrambled to her feet. “Okay, cupcake, time to go––” she turned towards where her girlfriend had been standing but no longer was.

Confusion turned into horror as she looked down at the ground and saw that the spear that had been meant for Carmilla was now going through Laura’s chest.

At this moment, Danny, Kirsh, Lafontaine, and Perry came rushing in.  The battle had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...please don't hate me!


	14. I'm Doing This For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura say their goodbyes as the battle rages on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's short... but I felt like it had to be? Also, thank you lovely, amazing people for leaving comments!

Carmilla knelt next to Laura, unsure of what to say or do.  Laura lay there, blood seeping from the wound around the spear, looking up to Carmilla, eyes pleading for help.  Carmilla couldn’t help but look away from them, guilt weighing in her chest, her eyes resting on the weapon lodged in her girlfriend’s chest.

“I-I-I didn’t mean what I said before,” Carmilla stammered quietly, unsure of what else to say, “about you being a stupid, tiny human.”

Laura gave as much of a laugh as she could muster. “You _totally_ did,” she said weakly, but smugly.

Carmilla scoffed, her gaze returning to Laura’s face. “Fine, I did.  And here you are, being a tiny, stupid human, what with your saving me and pushing me out of the way, just to get yourself––” She choked back a sob.

“––Turned into a human kebab?” Laura finished, flashing Carmilla a smile.

Danny rushed over, dropping a small sack of weapons by Carmilla.  Her jaw dropped when she realized why the couple hadn’t joined the fray.

“Laura…” no other words could come out of Danny’s mouth, but her eyes were speaking volumes.

“Behind you!”  Laura called out, watching as Danny spun around and blocked a blow with her sword blade, before pushing her and her attacker back into the battlefield.

When she was sure Danny hadn’t been too distracted by her own current predicament, Laura turned her attention back to Carmilla. Her breaths came in small gasps. “You’re going to use the Pommel of Azathoth and the Blade of Hastur on lophiiformes and your mother, aren’t you?” Carmilla nodded solemnly. “Hmm.  I guess neither of us considered we might both die during this whole thing.  Kind of a cocky oversight on our part, huh?”

Carmilla gave a wry smile as her ears picked up that there was a vampire approaching.  She swiftly reached into the sack Danny had left, grabbing a small athame and sidestepped an attempted tackle.  She grabbed the collar of the vampire, pulled him back toward her, and jammed the business end of the athame into the back of his head, shoving him on the floor, and he died a few feet from Laura.

 

Laura watched the scene and then focused on what was happening behind her girlfriend.

Her father was currently splitting his efforts back and forth between two vampires, using a weapon that had a blade on end of a metal shaft, and a sharp wooden point on the other.  He was struggling, holding his own, but more vampires were approaching him.

Danny and Kirsh were working as a team, as Danny weakened vampires with heavy attacks, and then shoving them towards Kirsh while he made quick work of staking them.  Laura could see the pair was tiring, though, and definitely wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Lafontaine and Perry weren’t doing as well as the others, having resorted to perching on a pile of some old furniture, firing arrows from crossbows while hiding.  The vampires had quickly deducted where the arrows were being fired from and were closing in on them.

“Carm,” Laura said, and Carmilla turned around, scanning and seeing the same things Laura was seeing.  “You gotta help them.”

“Because this last attempt at vampire heroics worked out so well?”  Carmilla turned back and shook her head emphatically.  “I’m not leaving you.”

“Who said anything about leaving?” she mustered as large a smile as she could.  “Just march your butt over, kill some vampires, and I’ll just, uhm, lie here and watch.” She looked Carmilla up and down. “Plus your butt looks great in those pants.”

 

“I love you,” Carmilla blurted out. _Well, no point in stopping now…_ Words began rushing out.  “I love you. I love that you’re the most stubborn dork I’ve ever met.  I love that you see people and it’s not just the way they are, but who they _can_ be.  I love that you’re so, _so_ human, Laura Hollis. I love that there’s so much good in you that right now, you’re concerned about everyone else in the room, and you’ve got this goddamn goofy grin plastered on your face.  _I love you_.” She shook her head again, tears flowing freely.  “And I can’t leave you.”

Laura put a hand on Carmilla’s, wincing at the movement. “Carmilla Karnstein, I love you, too.” A tear rolled down her cheeks, but Laura didn’t let the smile disappear.  “But remember when you told me a couple days ago to save my pouts for a life-or-death situation?”  Her forced smile changed into a pout.  The biggest pout she had ever made.  And then she blinked at Carmilla with big doe eyes and batted her eyelashes. “Pretty please go save my friends?”

Carmilla laughed dryly, then bit her lower lip. “But you––”

“Will be _so_ pissed at you if one of them dies because your lazy vampire butt didn’t do what I asked.”  Laura tapped Carmilla’s hand.  Her eyelids were drooping more now, and her voice was almost a whisper.  “Any memory of you not cleaning out the shower, and of you eating my food, will be erased, if you would just do this. For me?”

Carmilla sat there for a few seconds, listening as Laura’s heartbeat slowed down.  “Fine. I’m doing this for you, Laura.” She turned to the sack and emptied the weapons.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Laura rasped as she watched Carmilla slowly get up and walk away, “that’s my centuries-old bad-ass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Ahemmm*


	15. Heroic Vampire Crap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle comes to an end as the Dean is killed. Love will have its sacrifices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter! Thank you to everyone who's left comments. You guys are the BEST.

Sword in hand, Carmilla fought her way over to Laura’s father across the vast room, liberating him from the group of vampires that had him trapped in a corner of the room.

“Thanks,” he panted.  He swallowed hard.  “Is she…?”

Carmilla shook her head.  “She insisted I help you guys out instead of sitting by her side.” She flashed a quick grin. “You know how stubborn she can be.”

He gave a slight chuckle.  “Ah, yes.  Takes after her mother.”  He reached into his pocket.  Carmilla reached out her hand and received the Pommel of Azathoth.  She scanned the room and found that Danny had taken the Blade of Hastur and secured it in a scabbard.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked, deflecting a blow and knocking a vampire back.

“Yes,” he said.  “And, Carmilla?”  He regarded the woman in front of him.  “I’m sorry for the things I said.  You’ve done nothing but protect my daughter and help.  I––”

“––Do not need to apologize,” Carmilla said sincerely, and then smirked.  “Just don’t die, or your daughter will kill me.”

 

She then headed towards Danny, taking out two vampires that were tag-teaming the tall warrior, and another one that was giving Kirsh problems.

Carmilla parried a blow from another vampire and countered with a low sweep.  “Laura?” Danny asked.  “How is she?”

“She told me, in typical Laura fashion, to stop being a useless vampire, and to go be a centuries-old bad-ass,” Carmilla answered.

“But is she––”

“She’s not going to make it,” Carmilla stated bluntly. “I’m sorry, Danny.”

Danny stiffened but continued taking out vampires alongside Carmilla.  “I’m sorry, too, Carmilla.” She hit a vampire square in the nose with the hilt of her sword and Carmilla kicked him towards Kirsh, who had the pointed end of his wooden weapon ready.  “Now, go take that bad-ass business elsewhere.  We have this handled.”  She smiled at Carmilla and handed her the Blade.

Carmilla nodded and ran off to her last stop.

 

Lafontaine and Perry were starting to be overtaken by half a dozen vampires.  Carmilla looked over their surroundings.  With a vague idea of how to proceed, she fought her way over, only to be grazed by an arrow. “Can you two morons _not shoot me_?!” she yelled up at them. Lafontaine looked particularly sheepish, so Carmilla assumed she had been the one to fire.  She glared at them.  “I’m coming towards you.  Do _not_ shoot me.”

She stood next to a bookcase and after carefully measuring the distance and its weight, she lifted it off the ground and threw it right next to where the pair was hiding.  She climbed up next to them and brought them to the top of the newly placed bookcase.

“Uhm, Carm, what are you doing?” Laf asked.

Carmilla looked at them and Perry. “Do you trust me?” They slowly nodded. “Good.”  With minimal effort, she threw them up in the air, and they landed on a beam near the roof of the building.  From there, they had a great vantage point, and there was almost no way for the vampires to figure out their location easily.  Carmilla knocked the bookcase back over, just in case.

And now there was just one thing left to do.

 

Carmilla searched the room for the Dean, an effort made in vain as she felt a strike to the back of her skull. The Blade went scattering away from her.

“Ungrateful pest,” she hissed.

Carmilla rolled away from her, scrambling towards the Blade.  The Dean grabbed her around the waist and spun her away, into a nearby pillar.

“Cowardly cockroach!”  Carmilla dipped her head to the right, narrowly dodging a blow that took out a chunk of the pillar.  Carmilla shoved her mother away, growling.

“Call me what you want, you monstrous viper,” Carmilla spat. She backhanded her opponent, which had minimal effect, other than leaving the Dean shocked. Carmilla took the opportunity to head for the Blade.  She pulled out the Pommel, but as she went to attach it, she was dragged backwards by her ankles, and it rolled out of her hand.  She felt hands on her calves that flipped her over so she was facing the Dean.

“You pathetic, pitiful, sniveling worm!” the raging woman shrieked, anger and hatred flaming in her eyes as she took a small wooden stake from a rear pocket.  “No one would miss you if you––”

 

“Hey!  Callous evil witch!” a voice rang out from behind Carmilla.  Both her and the Dean turned to face Laura, who stood proudly. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you what to do if you have nothing nice to say?”  Carmilla’s jaw dropped open.

“What? How?” the Dean shouted.

“Little tip next time you decide to kill a human during huge battle while trying to take over the world,” Laura said, smirking, “don’t leave a bleeding vampire corpse on the battlefield near said human.”

Any color left Carmilla’s face. “No.  No, Laura, you didn’t!”  But if she looked closer, she could see the faint trace of blood on Laura’s lips. Vampire blood.

“You fool!”  The Dean leapt over Carmilla, aiming her charge at Laura, who gracefully sidestepped. Instead, the Dean barreled into a group of vampires behind Laura.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Laura said dismissively. She looked down at Carmilla, who was getting to her feet.  In the distance, she saw Kirsh and Danny gape at her, realizing what must have occurred.

 

She turned her attention back to Carmilla. “Laura…”  Laura held up a finger to her girlfriend’s lips. She looked at her adoringly, and then pulled her into a passionate kiss.  Laura hoped and prayed that all the love she felt for this woman was evident in this kiss.  She wanted for the kiss to say everything she couldn’t say.  The words “I love you” had not felt enough for what she wanted to say to Carmilla when her feelings were somehow more ethereal.

When she finally pulled away, hearing the Dean recover from her embarrassing failed tackle, she could tell that her kiss succeeded. It looked like she took Carmilla’s breath away, and tears were flowing from her eyes.

Before Carmilla could do anything else, Laura spoke. “Time for you to get out of here.” She then leaned in and whispered, “And it’s time for me to find out why you hate this heroic vampire crap.”

Carmilla eyes widened, but it was too late –– Laura grabbed the Pommel of Azathoth off the ground and attached it to the Blade of Hastur.

 

She ignored the blinding pain that shot through her hand and her arm and pivoted to face the Dean, and lophiiformes. She ignored the heart-wrenching way Carmilla screamed out her name, as if she needed it more than she needed air – who knows? maybe she did.  She ignored her hand bursting into flames as the pain traveled through her arm into her shoulder. She ignored the loud pained groan that escaped her own lips.  She ignored the Dean’s speedy unconvincing pleas before she thrust the weapon with all her might.  She ignored the light and the darkness and everything that followed, but she couldn’t ignore Death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys? Trust me. You'll be glad with how it all ends. I hope.


	16. Eternity And A Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been over two weeks since Laura died.  
> Carmilla’s not sure if it feels longer or shorter than two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there, guys! I am so sorry for any emotional trauma this fic may have caused, hahaha. (If it's any consolation, I got so bummed out writing it that I had to go and write fluff just to cheer myself up.)

It’s been over two weeks since Laura died.

 

Carmilla’s not sure if it feels longer or shorter than two weeks.  _Or maybe it feels exactly like two weeks?_

Time has passed in chunks, where the first few days are a blur of Perry, Lafontaine, and Kirsh trying half-heartedly to support Richard, Danny, and Carmilla.  These efforts eventually become stronger when presumably the shock of Laura’s death wears off on them, and they double their efforts to make sure everyone is at least eating.

Carmilla has resigned to lounging around on a tear-stained couch in the basement, only moving to drink the blood brought to her in a mug. From what she can hear, Richard and Danny manage to start walking around about a week or so following the battle. She can hear awkward, short conversations, and increased bustling activities as the group begins taking two-day shifts at Silas to help clean up.

Meanwhile, Carmilla lies in the basement, telling herself that _vampires don’t cry_ , and yet still alternating between crying, dry heaving, and contemplating using one of the weapons in the house on herself.

 

During the end of the first week, Lafontaine catches Carmilla with a stake, and after that, Richard moves all the weapons to his office.

A few days later, Carmilla tries leaving the house to go where no one can stop her, but Richard finds her right outside the house and just gives her a very sad look.  She figures that if this man who has just lost his daughter can find a way to keep living, then maybe she can, too.

She spends days trying to find a way.

 

Eventually, Danny enters to the basement to give Carmilla some blood.  She watches her as she drinks, looking as if she’s trying to say something but is afraid the vampire will shatter if a single word is uttered her way.

“What is it, Xena?” Carmilla asks between sips, her voice raspy with disuse.

Danny hesitates and clears her throat before speaking. “Silas has been cleared of all zombies and any other lingering threats,” she speaks carefully. “We’re all heading back in a few hours, and Richard is going to the States on a job tonight.”

 _Great, everyone is moving on,_ she thinks ruefully.  “Am I being evicted?” she asks dryly.

Danny gives a small chuckle.  “No, Richard says you’re welcome to stay as long as you want. You’re also welcome to come back with us.”  When Carmilla doesn’t reply, Danny continues.  “Look, Dead Girl–– Carmilla.  She wouldn’t want this. She wouldn’t want you to waste the life she gave you, and spend it in her basement.”

Carmilla looks down and hands the mug back to Danny. “Thanks for the blood,” she murmurs. “Have a safe trip back.”

Danny sighs, waiting a moment before taking the mug. “Fine,” she says softly. “See you around.”

 

Carmilla waits until the footsteps reach the top of the stairs before flopping back down on the couch.  She allows her eyes to close, knowing that she will just replay that day _again_.

 

 _She spoke Laura’s name, but her girlfriend put a finger to her lips. Before she could do anything else, Laura pulled her in for the most passionate kiss they’ve had, and just like that, any words that needed to be spoken between them were rendered useless. Of course, this didn’t stop Laura from one last remark, because_ of course _she needed to have the last word.  And with a quip about heroic vampire crap, she watched in horror as Laura took the Pommel of Azathoth and the Blade of Hastur and charged at her mother._

 _She could hear Laura’s pain as she was slowly consumed, the way Carmilla thought_ she _would be consumed, and then there was silence after she plunged the weapon into Mother, and both vanished._

_Carmilla collapsed to the ground, staring at the empty space where Laura had just been moments before, while the battle raged around her.  She wasn’t sure how long it was before the remaining vampires understood they were outmatched and retreated.  She wasn’t sure how long the others had left the building to give Carmilla her space before she felt compelled to leave._

 

It was the next day when Carmilla opened her eyes. “You stupid, stupid, _stupid_ , tiny human,” she growled into the darkness. “Stupid.”

“Wow, hey, ouch,” a voice said from across the basement. “Even stupid tiny humans have feelings, y’know.”

Carmilla bolted up, convinced she had gone crazy. She stared across the basement at where the voice was coming from and felt the entire world stop.

It was Laura.

 

Laura, with a big dorky grin plastered across her face, her teeth and fangs––

_Wait, what?_

“You never were much of a talker,” Laura laughed, and Carmilla thought she would melt at the sound, unable to move as the other girl walked closer.  “This is literally the complete opposite of when _you_ came back to _me_.”

Carmilla felt her brain start working again, but her limbs seemed slow to follow.  “How?” she breathed, still aware she could very much be losing her sanity. After all, hadn’t she had this dream many times in the past couple weeks?

Laura was inches away now, but didn’t make any motion to touch Carmilla.  She smiled.

 

“Remember those witches that were supposed to do a protection spell on my mother and I?”  She shrugged.  “Apparently it’s still a thing… Or, at least, it was.”

Carmilla just blinked at Laura, not processing much of what was happening.  Laura gently pulled her to sit down on the couch.

“After I used the Blade on your mother,” she explained, “There was a lot of pain.  Like, _a lot_ of pain. Like, ‘holy mother of cookies, I did not know someone could be in this much pain’ amount of pain.” Carmilla offered a slight chuckle. “And then I was just nowhere. It was like this huge empty space. Sorta like how I imagine the hose of a vacuum cleaner is like.”  Laura giggled. “Then, there she was… my own mother.” Her eyes welled up a little. “And she told me that the witch’s spell had protected me my whole life.  Which, if you think about it, kinda explains how my stupid little self didn’t die a whole lot sooner,” she said, winking.  “And then my mom told me she loved me, and was proud of me,” a few tears fell. “And then she told me to march my butt back over here and watch after my dad, and my friends,” she continued, “and you.”

She took Carmilla’s hands in hers.

“She sent me back, which was pretty dumb on her part, because it happened in real time, so I basically appeared right behind you while you were kneeling on the floor of the Lustig building. But I guess the resurrection had its limits, because you couldn’t see or hear me, and I’ve just been stuck in this weird kinda limbo for the past couple weeks.”

Carmilla finally spoke, her voice cracking. “You mean, you’ve been here this whole time?”

Laura nodded.  “Yeah. Also, may I say – geez, Carm. The past couple weeks have _sucked_.  I mean, do you know how often I’ve been standing here shouting things at you, like ‘Get up and shower, Carm,’ or ‘don’t ruin your perfect boobs with that stake, you idiot,’ or ‘oh hell no you better not leave this house without thanking your host first, Miss Rude-o?’  Because it was a lot.”  She rolled her eyes. “It was like nothing had changed between life and not-life, with me yelling things and you lying there being the Queen of Darkness.”

Carmilla really laughed now, throwing her head back and letting herself enjoy it.

“But yeah, I’m back now, here to follow you around and gripe at you for eternity,” Laura beamed.

 

“Eternity?” Carmilla asked.

Laura flashed a fang.  “Unless you’re planning to abandon your newbie-vamp girlfriend for greener pastures?”

Carmilla stared at her tiny, not-dead girlfriend. “If you’ll have me, cupcake.” She hesitated, but then pulled Laura in for a fiery kiss.  Tongues met as moans escaped both of their throats, and Carmilla was sure she never wanted it to end.

Laura pulled away first.  “Wow, one of us dying has to happen more often,” she exhaled. Carmilla snickered. “I would’ve loved for that kiss to go on forever,” she admitted, “but I am _starving_.”

Carmilla pulled Laura into an embrace, nuzzling her face into her hair.  “So what next?” she asked.

“Uhm, I just said I was starving, Carm. Are you still not listening? Next, I wanna eat…” She pulled back, her face serious. There was a beat before she broke out into another huge grin.  “… cookies?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes.  “My stupid, tiny vampire,” she sneered.

Laura grinned.  “Next, we go back to Silas, and we finish university with my friends, and we graduate so my dad can cry at the ceremony, and we do stupid vampire things that don’t involve heroic vampire crap unless totally necessary,” Laura answered, still smiling.

“Hmm,” Carmilla said, planting a soft kiss on Laura’s lips, “only one thing wrong with that, creampuff.”

“What’s that?”

Her eyes gleamed.  “Somewhere between ‘go back to Silas’ and ‘finish university’ we need to fit in ‘travel to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.’”

Laura laughed and returned a light kiss.

 

Eternity for two stupid vampires with hero complexes never seemed more perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it was worth sticking through til the end. Once again, thanks for all the support. It was a mighty feat, but you guys made it worth it! Viva La Hollstein.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in over eight years, but the Carmilla fandom is just too good to ignore! Hope my love for the characters is enough. Feel free to let me know what you think!


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